Ministry of Defence

Cyprus: Armed Forces

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government how many British service personnel stationed in Cyprus have been murdered by terrorists in that country, and by which named terrorist group, in the past 30 years.

Baroness Goldie: In the last 30 years there have been no terrorist related murders of British Service personnel in Cyprus.

NATO: Finance

Lord Jopling: To ask His Majesty's Government what reservations have been made by the International Board of Auditors for NATO in their most recent annual report with regard to the organisation's financial management.

Baroness Goldie: The International Board of Auditors (IBAN) produces an annual report for the North Atlantic Council. Their reports on the 2021 Financial Statement Audit of the Reporting Entities and main findings of these audits are publicly available and can be found at: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_111782.htm

Department for Business and Trade

Trade Promotion

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish an up-to-date list of trade envoys.

The Earl of Minto: An up-to-date list of the Prime Minister’s Trade can be found on www.gov.uk/government/groups/trade-envoys.

Small Businesses: India

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support mid-sized UK businesses in their efforts to expand into the Indian market.

The Earl of Minto: The UK’s 5.4 million SMEs are at the centre of our ambition to reach £1 trillion in exports annually by 2030. The Export Support Service International Markets (ESS IM) provides in-market support for UK SMEs and for SMEs ready to export, our overseas teams can provide insight, guidance, 1:1 consultations and trusted referrals in all regions of the world, working together with other Department for Business and Trade (DBT) teams overseas. In addition, we are continuing to negotiate towards a UK-India Free Trade Agreement and we have provisionally agreed a chapter which aims to ensure that SME's can understand, navigate, and benefit from the whole FTA.

Department of Health and Social Care

Abortion

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current annual cost to the National Health Service of carrying out abortions; and what is its estimate of the total cost to the National Health Service of carrying out abortions in the last 30 years

Lord Markham: This information is not held centrally.

Abortion

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government how many legal abortions have taken place (1) cumulatively, and (2) annually, in Great Britain in each year since 1993.

Lord Markham: Information on the number of legal abortions which have taken place cumulatively, and annually, in Great Britain between 1993 and 2021, inclusive, is set out in the following table:YearEngland and WalesScotlandGreat BritainCumulative Great Britain1993168,71411,069179,783179,7831994166,87611,389178,265358,0481995163,63811,143174,781532,8291996177,49511,978189,473722,3021997179,74612,109191,855914,1571998187,40212,485199,8871,114,0441999183,25012,168195,4181,309,4622000185,37511,997197,3721,506,8342001186,27412,128198,4021,705,2362002185,38511,870197,2551,902,4912003190,66012,308202,9682,105,4592004194,49812,462206,9602,312,4192005194,35312,665207,0182,519,4372006201,17313,167214,3402,733,7772007205,59813,778219,3762,953,1532008202,15813,908216,0663,169,2192009195,74313,112208,8553,378,0742010196,10912,949209,0583,587,1322011196,08212,558208,6403,795,7722012190,97212,578203,5503,999,3222013190,80011,954202,7544,202,0762014190,09211,787201,8794,403,9552015191,01412,153203,1674,607,1222016190,40612,133202,5394,809,6612017197,53312,546210,0795,019,7402018205,29513,358218,6535,238,3932019209,51913,610223,1295,461,5222020210,86013,896224,7565,686,2782021214,86913,758228,6275,914,905Notes:Figures for England and Wales are for all legal abortions that occurred in England & Wales.Figures for Scotland show all legal terminations of pregnancy performed in Scotland.

Leader of the House of Lords

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask the Leader of the House, furtherto the Written Answer byLord True on 19 June (HL8246), what explanations he has had from the Department of Health and Social Care concerning the number of questions allocated to that department that remain unanswered after 10 working days.

Lord True: As Leader of the House of Lords I have reiterated to all Front Bench Ministers the importance of adhering to the 10 day target for responses to questions for written answer. As stated in my response on 19 June (HL8246) the Department for Health and Social Care faced significant disruption to the delivery of parliamentary support due to the pressures they faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have since implemented a Written Parliamentary Question Recovery Plan to deal with the backlog of written questions. At the time of writing, DHSC’s PQ on-time rate for July is 89.6%, the highest percentage during a sitting month since early 2020.The Permanent Secretary has further reassured me that they are committed to improving the process and have taken further steps to bring performance levels back to pre-pandemic levels including streamlining the drafting process. I will be looking for further improvements on their record as a result of the Department's Recovery plan. It is important that the highest standards are achieved by all Departments in replying to members of the House.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Darfur: Arms Trade

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking with international partners to stop the provision of weapons to West Darfur, following the discovery of a mass grave in that region.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We condemn the direct targeting of civilians and violence against specific groups in Darfur. At the 13 July UN Security Council meeting on the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Sudan investigation, we welcomed the ICC Prosecutor's decision to commence investigations into the offences currently being committed in Darfur. The UK is pursuing all diplomatic avenues, including Ministerial engagement with regional counterparts, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and African Union (AU) to end the violence and de-escalate tensions in Sudan. There is a UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur, which we renewed in March 2023. There is also a longstanding bilateral UK arms embargo in place for the whole of Sudan. These regimes have been used to constrain the flow of weapons into the country and support efforts to stop those who pose a threat to stability in Darfur. The UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur will be reviewed by September 2024.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dangerous Dogs

Lord McInnes of Kilwinning: To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to adding the American Bully XL to the list of banned dog breeds.

Lord Benyon: We take the issue of dangerous dogs and fatal dog attacks seriously and are making sure enforcement measures are fully utilised for all breeds of dog. These measures range from Community Protection Notices that can be served for low level anti-social behaviour to offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act – where serious offences can see people put in prison for up to 14 years, disqualified from ownership or their dog euthanised if they allow it to become dangerously out of control. We are working in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the full range of existing dog control powers are effectively applied, encourage responsible dog ownership and reduce the risk of dog attacks. We currently have no plans to add additional breed types to the banned breed list. It is already an offence under section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to allow any dog to be dangerously out of control in any place. Additionally, section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871 also allows a complaint to be made to a Magistrates’ court where a dog is “dangerous and not kept under proper control”. The court may then make any Order it considers appropriate to require the owner to keep the dog under proper control or, if necessary, that it be destroyed.